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The Atonement 

A Bri ef Stu dv 



By 

oris COLE 

Haverhill, Massachusetts 



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INI Ml lll< >DIST BO »K O INCERN 

CINCINNA1 l 

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All who wiih mi. sa\ 
-(Our ifatiuu-" 



FOREWORD. 



It was hardly my thought that this little volume 
would appear in published form when I undertook to 
lown "ii paper my convictions concerning the love 
of God as shown in the long history of Atonement 
throughout the ages. The manuscript was written in 
my home at Haverhill, in 1920 — written as the peaceful 
Bhadows of life were closing about me. The writing is, 
then, a production of the evening of my life, with re- 
flection back over the past and firm confidence in the 
future. In the spring of \ l >2\ my granddaughter, 
Luella Cole Pressey, read over the manuscript and 
considered it worthy of publication; she has made all 
arrangements with tin- printer, has prepared the manu- 
script for the pn—. and has looked after all tin- many 
details of publication. To her 1 am indebted. It i- 
my hope thai a reading <>i this little book may make 
clearer to some who are not ye\ in the fullness of the 
light that God is indeed love, th.it he has shown his love 
from the dawn ol creation .iu<\ i- ever ready to forgive 
the erring human ami to give him .1 fresh impulse to 
anew. From the wisdom oi age I can reaffirm the 
idea th.it God's love is the most basic principle of the 
world. It .1 perusal of this hook shall bring to tin- 



6 FOREWORD 

"one out of the hundred" a better concept of love and 
mercy, I shall rest content. 

"The Lord bless us and keep us. The Lord make his 
face to shine upon us and be gracious unto us. The Lord 
lift up his countenance upon us and give us peace, both 
now and evermore. Amen." 

Otis Cole, 
Haverhill, Massachusetts. 



THE ATONEMENT. 

i. 

In the beginning thereof God. In the greatness <>f 
it- movement and it- fruitagi God. The Bible de- 
clares the love of God for man; il affirms ami unfolds £ 
plan of redemption challenging human interesl always. 
It announces, reveals <".<><l, giving something of his 
thoughts, lii- way-, his will, hi- power, and his ever- 
lasting love. The story <>f the advent <>l Jesus, of his 
life and passion, with a fourfold record of his teaching 
erning the kingdom republic of GdH, makes 
affluent revealing <>i his purpose and work for the re- 
demption of m. hi. The beloved disciple of Jesus wrote 
later day a luminous confirmation of thai com- 
ionate statement: "Herein is love, not thai we loved 
God but that he loved us and senl his Son t«» be the 
propitiation an atoning sacrifice !<>r our sins!" 

The real objective in mind in this little volume is 
this: A recognition that tin- initiative i"i- human re- 
demption, Cor atonement, ' who began tin- work 
in- from -in, the rescue "l mankind. The entire 
cm flow of plentil ude <>i l<>\ e, t hi- lo\ e 
toi y "I it is a \o\ e - tor) of an infinite 
pathos, beauty, majest \ . 

d is a w ide, w ide sea ol soundless 
depth. All divine activities are based on and environed 
l>v lovt I really a mo\ emenl in l<'\< as 

in mighl and majesty. I ■ al arrange menl <>!' 

the plam t Earth for thi me ol man was an 

twhil.it ol thoughtful, beneficenl love. Man himsell 

7 



8 THE ATONEMENT 

has a native endowment of dignity and worth, upright- 
ness, force, and comeliness. These excellences are a 
dower of a loving Creator and Benefactor. 

Notwithstanding, it is usual in studies of the atone- 
ment to magnify the demands of justice as being primarily 
important and to seek, also, ample provision for meeting 
the demands by positing necessity for a Sin-bearer who 
can and does make satisfaction for the offense urged 
against justice by sin, and that such a bearer of the 
awful burden of sin — the sin and sinfulness of man — 
ajone can make a valid, adequate propitiation, and so a 
way of life for those dead in trespasses and sins. The 
argument further continues: Inasmuch as righteousness 
and judgment are the habitation of the throne of God, 
whatever cloud and darkness may hover over the peni- 
tent sinner it may be freely forgiven only as atonement is 
actual, sufficient, and openly manifest by a divine ac- 
ceptance thereof— acceptance of a vicarious, sacrificial 
offering, clearly involving suffering, by one good and 
sreat enough to assure firm balance in favor of the truth 
and justice of God, the Ruler of the world. Thus 
have discussions moved and been exhibited in the 
Christian centuries. 

To escape fiom the pressure of righteousness and 
judgment is impossible. God is present and active 
everywhere; righteousness and judgment are ever mak- 
ing their impress; their source, fount, and mightiness 
are in Him. From the splendor of truth and rectitude in 
the Eternal One, these majestic ethical forces forever 
freelv stream. 

Normally, man has high estimate of the values ot 
justice and truth and a large regard for their manifest 
presence in social and civic affairs. Courts of Justice 
are recognized as centers of dominating interest. To 
these Daniel Webster once voiced an immense tribute, 
when he pronounced a eulogy of Joseph Story, late an 



THE ATONEMENT 9 

associate justice of the Supreme Court. A brief passage 
has pertinence for this study: 

"Justice, Sir, is the greatest interesl of man <>n earth. 
It i- the ligament which holds civilized beings and civilized 
nations together. Wherever her temple stands, and bo long 

• is duly honored, there is a foundation for social se- 
curity, genera] happiness, and the improvement and 
progress of our r 

It may not be overlooked by any that the world- 
order, mayhap the order of the universe, is based in such 
wisdom and justice and is so wondrously inclusive and 
complete that adequate retributive forces are hidden in 
man'- environment, in man himself, and that they act 
promptly. Hence, penal sequences of disobedience, of 
wrongdoing, recklessness, negligence, <d" sin, are cer- 
tainties and may be severities, cumulative, terrible. 
Bui it should be noted that men are in peril of undue 
anent what they may deem "justice," may affirm 
penal sequences for civic and social offenses, 
may i nforcemenl <>l harsh statutes .1- to work 

sod. d injury. Something may well be said of severities 
imposed by courts, and more <»l social pressures and 
theological thoughl and statement. Thus Inspector 
t, of Hugo's "Les Miserables," knew Jean Valjean 
fugitive from justice in breach <>\ his ban," refusing 
thought <>\ the man. To Javert, Valjean was ever 
"the prisoner of the law." Yel the inspector was 
troubled, for thai "prisoner" had voluntarily preserved 
thai officer from imminent peril, from a violenl death. 
\ the servanl ol public order Javerl should arresl 
Valjean. 1 1« c< uld n<»i ; he had made the astonish- 
I "the po sibility oi a tear in the ej e ol 
the law, a mysterious justice according to God 

■ ■ men.* - I le had ttlOUg hi 

..1 I iv. as eparate from men \ ; Penaltj wa the sol< 
sibility i"i law-breakers and Jean Valjean had been a 



10 THE ATONEMENT 

thief! Javert, obedient, resolute, resourceful official 
and ministrant of justice without respect of persons, 
had one of the greatest problems in mind, and the so- 
lution was not apparent. Presently, according to Hugo, 
he sought relief by self-destruction. There seemed no 
place for him in what he was urged to think a topsy- 
turvy world. 

Peradventure some thinkers may have had like im- 
perfect, distorted apprehension of the bearings, the 
quality of justice essential in the remedial arrangements 
of God in his age-long effort to save mankind from the 
ruin of sin. Apparently very imperfect concepts of 
the principles involved have had place in thought and 
expression. The Apostle to the Gentiles taught that by 
the deeds of the law alone none can be justified, inasmuch 
as all are sinners. As will more fully be shown it has 
pleased God to proffer forgiveness of sins and also a 
transformation of being to the penitent, rather than to 
make harsh demands in the name of Justice. 

Again, the human race is a venture of the Most High 
whose righteousness is an everlasting righteousness and 
whose law is holy and good. Man did not ask to be. 
Created being anywhere at any time is a venture of 
the Creator. The creation of man was a great venture 
in faith; the authorization of the generations of men a 
venture in responsibility — an inescapable responsibility. 
Upon each individual in the long succession of personal 
lives being was conferred; none asked such responsible 
life here below. None asked the eager and inherent love 
of living, and some have found the burden thereof too 
great to bear and have ventured the awful pass of self- 
destruction, although such venture is banned, its measure 
unknown. 

Man was made in the image and likeness of his 
Maker; has freedom, limited but real, and so has an 
imposed obligation to use freedom lawfully, wisely, and 



Till. ATONEMENT 11 

well, with expectancy of rendeiing in due time a strict ac- 
count to the Creator and Judge of all. The obligation 
is based in clear thought "l" mutual relations and a de- 
sired development in rational, well-ordered, ethical 
life. 

Open recognition of responsibility tor man was early 
made by hi- Creator. In the beginnings of human hi>- 
tory and in the Garden where man and his helpmeet, 
woman, were placed, tragedy appeared. Under pres- 
sin entered, and death l>y ^in. 1 >i- 
rectly a greal promise assured a remedy for sin, for its 
bruise, it- hui t . I low really and clearly the promise \\ as 
then apprehended is not known. It was the initial 
one. It- content was revealed with clearness at a later 

day. 

Advocates of evolution have failed to affirm, al least 
cenl duly, the essential corollary that all evolvings 
equents of prior involvings of equivalent energy. An 
involver must be cognized. The principle tlm^ indicated 
i- pertinenl to the presenl study. As already noted 
the initial promise given in the Eden story including a 
virile seed of the woman is itself an admission l>y the 
Giver of his burden for the disobedient, shrinking man 
and woman, and also a direct intimation of purpose to 
deal justly and love mercy even as he would .require 
them and their descendants to do. The mystic phrasing 
of the divine promise enfolds the subsequent unfoldings 
of purpose and action, the manifestations of justice, 
. and love in the ages. Full interpretation of the 
ic word of promise can be gained l>\ reverenl 
of the tragic movements in Gethsemane and at 
iry. There the Hero, }r-[\^ the Christ, Buffered 
bruising l»\ the diabolic seed, the devil and his aids 
human or other and there the Adversary received bruis- 
ing from the pu I "I the woman, in fulfillment 
of the ancient word ol Jehovah. 



12 THE ATONEMENT 

It has been urged that injustice was involved in 
permitting inexperienced beings to be tempted ; that the 
approach of a tempter should have been prevented. But 
none may overlook the certainty that beings endowed 
with freedom may originate tempting themselves. More- 
over, the critcism falls, if it be shown that fair environ- 
ment was assured and needful tuition and discipline also. 
Such guarding was provided: reasonable supervision, 
companionship and aid in the conduct of life. The 
Great Companion of all humanity and time was near, 
was in the Garden. His presence may not have been 
constantly apprehended. Few men or women have had 
such clarity of vision, such recognition of the immediate 
companionship of the Father of all. Apparently some 
daily converse of God and man had place that far-off 
early day. 

Whatever may be said of the Biblical chronicle 
concerning the primal man and woman it will be ad- 
mitted that essential truth is in it. Human behavior 
was much as modern observation affirms. Incidents, 
happenings of that early time are like those still ap- 
parent in the world. The obligation of obedience then 
imposed has not been lifted. Thomas Carlyle, in "Sartor 
Resartus," said, "Obedience is our universal duty and 
destiny; wherein whoso will not bend must break; too 
early and too thoroughly we cannot be trained to know 
that Would, in this world of ours, is as mere zero to 
Should, and for the most part as the smallest of fractions 
to Shall." 

Law is, however, an essential of orderly, useful, moral 
life. Law, obligation for good behavior, abides, whatever 
temptations may appear. Safety, comfort, happiness 
are normal fruits of obedient conduct of life. Immunity 
from the pressures of temptation appears in due time 
as men and women continue in obedience to the laws of 
God — and his commandments are not grievous. More- 



THE ATONEMEN I" 13 

over, generous aids t<> obedience, to good behavior, to 
honesty and purity in life are promised, are given as 
needed if only faith in God be present and active. The 
ju>t live by faith. 

If a further query be raised, as: Who is responsible 
for the being of a tempter? the response might be: The 
tempter himself. The Creator of the worlds may not l>e 
debited as nothing in the record of creath e acts sug 

I thereof. The goodness, mercy, holiness of God 
forbid. Il<- made man in his own image and likeness. 

Is could not have less honor, however they may be 

other than human. JesUS said the devil wa> a man- 
killer from the beginning and in truth stood not because 
truth was not in him. His falsities were hi> own. 

lint further. It is evident God has permitted sel- 
fish development of some personalities, albeit sin is ever 
abhoreni as it has been written that he cannot regard 
sin with any allowance. More, his patience with sinning 
people is marvelous. Indeed, it appears, at times, to 
be limitless, as in the recenl World War. There must be 
an adequate reason. It may be thought, reverently, that 
permission of evil, of sin, is based in the recogniti< n that 
angels and men are other than inerranl mechanisms, that 
with frit- being, inexperienced being, a- well, unwise, 
wrong choices may In- made and evil Ik- loosed lor work* 
ins injury and disaster. Beings without personal vo- 
might just a- well have been created l>y 
Inerrancy might thus have been historic; Ian the 
history would not read like that of the human being 
with which all ,ue now familial. God preferred free 
to inerranl mechanisms, knowing well the tragedy 
involved. 

Character is a resultant <■! activities based in per- 
sonal freedom "i choice under the discipline "I pro- 
bationary life, and i- ever in accord with dominant vo- 
litional movements. The wisdom and vigor <>f welcome 



14 THE ATONEMENT 

discipline are determinative, also the actuality and 
promptness of obedience. Holy men and women alone 
meet the real desire of the All-father, and holy character 
is a resultant of obedience, faith, and love manifest 
within the charmed circle of the redemption divinely 
provided. 

Once more: If free beings at any time originated sin 
and then enticed others of like quality, angelic, human, 
then the shielding of Adam and Eve, or any men or 
women, from the approach and proffers of a tempter 
could not make sure continuous freedom from the en- 
trance and hurt of sin, for if one venture over the evil 
line was ever made another might be. Evidently the 
creation of free beings involves an immense risk. Here 
again, appears the marvel of the Creator's faith, his 
belief in angel and man. Creation was a movement in 
faith and expectancy! 

This imperfect review of temptation and the advent 
of sin seemed to be essential as leading directly to the 
study of redemption, of the atonement — the divine 
remedy for sin. It was posited at the outset that God 
himself is ever central in the great movement for the 
saving of man from the hurt of sin, from sin itself. The 
progress of the divine atonement should be looked at 
historically, to be adequately understood. 

In the Old Testament Jehovah is generally regarded 
as the Redeemer of Israel. For the most part, the sev- 
eral writers have the chosen people directly in view. 
The prophecy of Jonah, however, gives a wider outlook 
and the care of the Most High is affirmed for humanity 
outside of Israel. Accordant enlargement gradually 
appeared, as is clearly indicated by the words of Simeon 
when receiving the infant Jesus in his arms: "Mine eyes 
have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared be- 
fore the face of all the peoples, a light for the unveiling of 
the Gentiles and the glory of thy people, Israel." 



THE ATONEMENT IS 

Hebrew Psalms are affluent with the thoughts 
and expressions of the master minds of the chosen 
They form a vital part of the record of manifested love 
and mercy and of the influence thereby affecting the 
currents of Hebrew life. Psalm Ninety is credited t<> 
M ses: "Yet is man turned t<> destruction and his years 
depart as the telling of a tale." The reason given i- that 
man*- iniquities and sins, even secrel sins, are set in 
the light "t' < lod's countenance. An appalling statement ! 
By the flaming wrath thus apparent the days arc soon 

and "we fly away." Y< i is there thought of divine 

. and an appeal f«>r grace is made, for wisdom also. 
Apparently the appeal moves as with an underlying 
appiehension of a redemptive purpose, otherwise how 
could tin- writer expeel the beauty of Jehovah, God, to 
resl on man as sunlight and dew <>n mountain slope, 
plain, and valley, or the work of human hand- 1 . 
tablished? 

n earlier date than the writing of 1 1 1 i — psalm 
apparently animal lives were offered in sacrifice by man. 

early is nol clearly stated. Evidently Cain and 
Abel, th«- tit-t brothers of record, had some concept of 
vicarious offeiings; the elder brought of the producl of 
hi- fields, the fruitage of the ground; th<- younger, a 
land) from his flock. Abel's offering was more than 
his brother's, was superior to it inasmuch as the life 
of a lamb i- higher in grade <>l being than any plant 
or vegetable life In both offerings something vicarious 
t. a life rificed. Apparently some 

1 1 v had been given or these offerings had not been 
I ' ■ ' • i the order suggested may have been 
given with the taking of animal dan- for clothing. 

incident now claims al tention. Abra- 

fai -hailow- like a 

loft) mount tin : * I . In his elect ion Jehovah i hose 

a m in with breadth and depth foi being the foundei of 



16 THE ATONEMENT 



a family, a people, aye, peoples, with marvelous history 
continuing without limit, and for receiving in the 
thoughts of God, revelations of his purpose and will, and 
from whose seed of promise, in the fullness of time, a 
woman should appear with such largeness of being as 
fitted her for the holy service of mothering the Son of 
Man, the Savior of all, the Son of God. 

It is written that Jehovah made a covenant with 
Abraham, Abram then; the initiative was taken by 
Jehovah. With intimations of a great future, mystic and 
involving a harsh trial and discipline of his posterity, 
Abram was bidden to prepare selected beasts and birds, 
slay them, divide the bodies of the beasts and place the 
pieces in a dual rank with a lane for passing between, 
the birds not to be cut in pieces, yet arranged in like 
manner. Abram was to guard the unusual display from 
the hovering birds of prey. When the sun went down 
a deep sleep fell upon the watching man, also, a horror 
of great darkness and in it the mystic words of prophecy 
from the mouth of the Lord with the passing of a smoking 
furnace and a naming torch between the pieces of beasts 
and birds. With such impressive symbolism was the 
first covenant with this notable patriarch made and 
sealed. 

At the making of a second covenant when Abram was 
ninety and nine the name was changed to Abraham — 
the father of a multitude. A son was promised and 
Isaac was in due time born. The lad attaining manhood 
his father was divinely bidden to offer him in sacrifice 
to God on Mount Moriah. Apparently this added, most 
severe testing was met without exhibit of paternal 
weakness and terror. At the climax of reverent obedience 
Jehovah bade him see a substitute, a ram in the thicket 
nearby. It is enough to say here of this marvel of dis- 
cipline that it was a most remarkable and significant ad- 
umbration of a later and greater exhibit of love and obe- 



THE ATONEMENT 17 

dience, of the offering up of the Son of ( kxl, freely for all 
mankind, on a Roman cross. 

The life-story of Isaac subsequent to this >triking 
devotement by hi> obedient father, his own filial 
obedience withal and the wonderful deliverance from 
death by divine intervention and love, adds nothing 
directly concerning sacrifice or the work of redemption 
save the passing to his son Jacob <»t the prophecy and 
promise. It is every way noteworthy that Jacob was 
divinely guarded and blest. Fleeing the wrath of his 
brother he lodged for a night <>n the slope of a hill 
using "in of the stones of the place for his pillow. Sleep- 
ing, lu- dreamed. In vision a ladder joining earth and 
-k\ appeared with angels ascending and descending. 
Waking, he recognized the presence of God which he 
had failed to discern as the evening shadows had closed 
about him. Troubled, yet presently welcoming the 
e, he was impelled to worship. 

One of the noblest hymns of Christianity was in- 
spired liy this wonder-story of ancient days. The second 
Btanza illumine- story and singer: 

Though lik<- a wanderer, 
gone down; 
ovei me, 
My r< -a .1 Btone, 
Yet in my dreams Id be 
I, to Thee 
Nearer n> Thee! 

Whether at the lniri.il of a beloved rnliT of .1 great 

people, or on the deck of .1 sinking steamship, this fine 
hymn of Mrs. Adams be sung, it i- ever adequate .1- an 
outpouring of human need, sorrow, pain, at the nearness 
of death. By the historic incident in the life and disci- 
pline of the patriarch and by hallowing impulsions of the 
hymn made more melodious by music with like uplift, 
the high purposes ol God in the interest of humanity 
tdvanced. 



18 THE ATONEMENT 

The times of Joseph, first-born of Jacob and Rachel, 
while accordant to the announcement to Abraham, 
furnish little concerning the making of atonement. The 
times of Moses bring fresh activity and large advance. 
Moses was a son of the house of Levi, from which the 
later priestly line was given Israel. To him was assigned 
by Jehovah in signal manner the task of leading the 
chosen people out of bondage to the Promised Land. The 
institution of the Passover was a far step in the exhibit 
of the purpose to provide redemption for man. 

Through Moses the head of each Hebrew house re- 
ceived an order to slay a lamb, mark the doorpost 
and lintel with its blood, and in the solemn night gather 
his family at the table, eat the slain lamb, roasted with 
bitter herbs, while all were robed and girded for flight. 
In the darkness of that night a destroying angel smote 
the first-born of all Egyptian homes not having the 
blood tokens at the entrance. Jehovah ruled in Egypt 
that memorable night. He protected his people and 
sought to prepare them for greater things. 

Inasmuch as the Passover lamb was thus recognized 
as a substitute for the firstborn of the Hebrew theo- 
logians, deeming substitution an essential element of 
atonement, magnify the teaching of this central matter 
of Passover observances. Unduly, perhaps. There are 
other elements receiving more immediate accent by the 
Father whose love is the really central thing of atone- 
ment for sin. 

This hurried review of earlier times may well move 
more leisurely as observation of the Tabernacle ceremo- 
nies, sacrifices, and usages is attempted. Within the 
Tent of Meeting mystery had abiding. Priests ministered 
constantly in accord with instructions given Moses in 
the Mount. Ceremonials, varied offerings, multiplied 
sacrifices, were renewed day by day, or year after year. 
Once a year on a divinely appointed day the High Priest, 



THE Al» )\l Ml AT 19 

fully robed and mitred, duly supplied with blood of .1 
tnd a bullock, went alone within the second veil to 
make atonement l<>r his own sins and for the >in> of 
the people. Returning from that solemnity he imposed 
his hands on the head of .1 second goat, known as .1 
scapegoat, confessing ovei the devoted animal the sins 
and iniquities of all the children of Israel sending 
the burdened beasl to the wilderness by the hand of 
.1 designated man. All this was an annual observance 
strictly guarded, immediately grave, impressive, and 
disciplinary; there was withal a suggestion of adumbra- 
tion, inefficiency, of valued prophecy. 

Tin- disciplinary values of the Tabei nacle obsei vances 
may well detain a little. The Temple, of a lattei day, 
continued the cult with yel more impressive environ- 
ment ami procedures. Continually the people were ob- 
1 to bring tin- besl of their Bocks and herds lor 
the daily saciifices, and especially for tin- annual Daj of 
Atonement. The poor had reliei by permission in certain 
to offer birds rather than beasts beyond their means. 
The continual offerings of the people, the devotemenl 
to the service of God of their besl made a continuity <>f 
instruction in righl conduct, awakened apprehension 
of their ethical relations, and thus Israel had exaltation 
above other and surrounding peoples in their concepts of 
righteousness, duty, and ('.oil. The Hebrews were 
constantly reminded of tin- holiness of their God and 
of tin- abiding distinction between right and wrong. 

Notwithstanding, tin- children ol tin- covenant were 
often thoughtless, nay, were rebellious, and by trans 
..11 .nid -in put distance between themselves and 
Jehovah win. was ever caring for them, seeking to up- 
lift and save. In further effort he supplemented the 
teaching of the Tabernacle < 1 \ l< 1 bj sending selected, 
; .illy endowed and empowered men, known .1- 
■ nid prophets. These men wen 1.. aid claritj ol 



20 THE ATONEMENT 

common vision, to reprove, rebuke, instruct, and stimu- 
late right conduct. They were fearless, virile, God-like 
men, with now and then a woman of like values. Ap- 
parently they maintained closer relations with Jehovah 
than did the priests. Priests and kings feared them and 
trembled at their bold, fiery speech, their unsparing re- 
proofs. Public thought and service, righteousness and 
honor had uplift by their faithful ministry. Sometimes, 
aye, often, their bold, unshrinking, vigorous criticisms 
aroused antagonisms, persecutions, and the record is 
marred, yet illumined, by their martyrdom. These 
severities could not, did not, break their hold on the 
thought-life of their day, and though their solemn voices 
long since were stilled in death their messages are yet 
potent wherever the Bible is read, and that includes most 
of the world's peoples. The Hebrew prophets are of 
the ethical forces that move mankind. Persecution, how- 
ever severe, is powerless to still the vibrations of voices 
that send the majestic truths of God and man into the 
fields of human endeavor. The righteous are held in 
everlasting remembrance. 

Some even earlier prophetic notes are worthy of 
reverent attention, are pertinent to the study in hand. 
As Jacob in Egypt was about to die he called his sons to 
his couch and delivered to them suggestive charges, 
messages, anent his estimate of each; these were given 
place in "the imperishable record" of Scripture. A por- 
tion of the striking deliverance to Judah has pertinence 
indeed. 

Judah is a lion's whelp! 

The scepter shall not depart from Judah, 

Nor the ruler's staff from between his feet 

Until Shiloh come; 

And unto him shall the obedience of the peoples be. 

History shows the tribe bearing his name the apparent 
and dominant one at the opening of the Christian eia. 



THE ATONEMENT 21 

The tribe of Benjamin had been absorbed l>y Judah; 
the priestly class alone represented the tribe of Levi; 
all other- of Israel were dispersed. Palestine was Judea. 
In the Apocalypse, Saint John was bidden stay his 
weeping over the lack of one competent t<> take and 
open the seven-sealed book held in the right hand of 
Him who was throned in the wondrous virion, inasmuch 
a- the Lion <>f the tribe of Judah, the Root <■!' 1 >avid, had 
prevailed, was able, to loose the seals and open the book! 
The vision a No included tin- standing of a lamb as having 
been -lain in tin- midst "I the throne, the elders and the 
four living creatures; the Lamb took and opined the 
book and a majesty of ascription and praise followed 
the mystic movement. Jesus was the Christ, the Root 
1 ivid, the I. ion of Judah, the Lamb slain from the 
foundation of the world ! 

The greal prophets later sent to the chosen people 
while speaking most directly and forcefully to the Hebrew 
folk of their own times, giving reproof and instruction 
had mori- or less to -ay of a Messiah, a Deliverer. 
Mainly, perhaps, their task was preparative for the ad- 
vent of ,i Messiah, of One able to redeem and -axe. At 

time-, indeed, their messages had wideness of thought 
and apprehension of thin-- surpassing their under- 
standing. Sainl Peter wrote of these prophets as dili- 
gently searching wh.it manner of times the spirit of 

Christ who w.i- in them did point unto, when it testified 
beforehand of the sufferings of Christ and the glories 
that would follow. The Spirit impelled mystic nie- 

in familiar language but so freighted the common words 
a- to compel .i waiting of their fulfillment for the inter- 
pretation thereof. The mighty impulsions magnified 

the prophetic office and service while leaving the men 
burdened with longing to know the will and purpose oi 

Jehov ah. 

The breadth and depth <>i many prophetic deliver- 



22 THE ATONEMENT 

ances impel recognition and use of an important canon 
in interpretation. Passages in the writings awakening 
thought and expectancy of a Messiah, a Redeemer, are 
often mystic in form and content; while they may have 
immediate pertinency to the times and conditions at 
the date of deliverance they may also have a far outlook 
with accordant breadth, depth, and significance. A 
reverent and thoughtful reading of the Seventy-second 
Psalm will impel recognition of its dual burden. Its 
melodious chant magnifies the dignity and splendor of 
a great ruler, Solomon — probably — but the fine, far- 
visioned imagery of the Psalm carries the reader over all 
the Solomonic glory to some Ruler more imposing, to 
"Great David's Greater Son." Of the Messianic future 
alone can some of the sunbursts of the songful lines be 
really affirmed. One is subjoined as indicating the claim 
in mind: 

He will have dominion also from sea to sea, 

And from the River unto the ends of the earth! 

The comment of Professor Delitzsch on this Psalm is 
virile and pertinent to the study in hand: "The words of 
the Psalm were all fulfilled in him (Solomon) with the ex- 
ception of one thing; the universal dominion that is de- 
sired for him." Delitzsch notes the Old Testament 
concept: the Redeemer is Jahve, and gives what he 
styles a "parable" as illustrating the manner in which 
the Old Testament proclamation of salvation is gradually 
developed : 

"In relation to the day of the New Testament the Old 
Testament is night. During this night there mount up 
two stars of promise in opposite directions. The one 
describes its path from above downwards; it is the promise 
of Jahve who is about to come. The other describes its 
path from below upwards; it is the hope which is reposed 
in the seed of David, the prophecy of the Son of David, 
which is at first altogether human and earthly. These two 



THE ATONEMENT 23 

stars meet at last, they blend together into one constellation; 
the ni^ht vanishes into day. This one constellation is 
is Christ, Jah\e and David's son in one person, the 
King of Israel and at the Bame time the Redeemer of the 
world; in <>ik- word, the God-man." 

Chapter I.I 1 1 of I~.ii.ih is the mosl pathetic, most 
inclusive, of tin- sacred writings having the Messianic 
vision and burden. Yet, at once. Psalm XX 11 lifts itself 
above the limitation indicated and make- it- own in- 
tense appeal. The reading of either <>! these marvels of 
Scripture mow- the deeps of being. Poetic fire, pathos, 
beauty, power, in both reach far, lofty levels. Both sub- 
limely eh. mt of < me having surpassing experiences of pain 
and grief >"i«i as ever affluent in ability to save. A- it 
i- always profitable to read tin besl literatures the great 
Mi--i.mii' movement of Isaiah's thought in tin- pas 
named is given in full; a fair beginning include- \ 
I3ff. of Chaptei l.II. as well as ( hapter LI 11. 

"Behold, my Bervant will deal wisely, he will In- exalted 
ami lilted up, and will In- very high. Like as many were 

nished .a thee (his visage was bo marred more than any 
in. in and his form more than the sons >>t men) bo will he 
sprinkle many nations; kings will Bhul their mouths .a him; 
lor that which hath nol been told thnii will thej 
ami that which tiny had nut heard will they understand. 

"Whn hath believed that which we have heard? and to 
whom h.ah tin- arm ol Jehovah lulu revealed? For he 
grew u|i before him a- .i tender plant ■>n<\ a- a rool nut ol 
dry ground ; he hath no form or comeliness; and when v. 
him thru- i- no beautj thai we Bhould desire him. He was 
despised and rejected "i nun; ,i man ol Borrows ami ac- 
quainted with grief; ami a- one from whom men hide their 
face he was despised ; and we esteemed him nut. 

"Surely he h.ah borne out griefs and carried our sorrows; 

.... did esteem him stricken, smitten ol God, and 

afflicted. Bui he was wounded for our transgressions, 

In- was bruised for our iniquities; tin- chastisement ol our 

i] ii hi him, ami with hi- stripes we are healed. All 

we like sheep havi . we have turned ever) one 



24 THE ATONEMENT 

his own way; and Jehovah hath laid on him — made to light 
on him — the iniquity of us all. 

"He was oppressed, yet when he was afflicted he opened 
not his mouth; as a lamb that is led to the slaughter and 
as a sheep before its shearers is dumb so he opened not his 
mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away; 
and as for his generation, who among them considered that 
he was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgres- 
sion of my people to whom the stroke was due? Or this — 
cut off out of the land of the living? For the transgression 
of my people was he stricken. And they made his grave 
with the wicked and with a rich man in his death; although 
he had done no violence neither was any deceit in his mouth. 

"Yet it pleased Jehovah to bruise him ; he hath put him to 
grief; when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, 
he will see his seed, he will prolong his days, and the 
pleasure of Jehovah will prosper in his hand. He will see 
of the travail of his soul and will be satisfied; by the knowl- 
edge of himself will my righteous servant justify many — • 
make many righteous; and he will bear their iniquities. 
Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great and he 
will divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out 
his soul — life — unto death and was numbered with the 
transgressors; yet he bare the stain of many and made 
— maketh — intercession for the transgressors." 

If Isaiah had any other servant of such high grade in 
mind, other than Jesus the Christ, if the impelling 
Spirit had such pressures for any other as this marvelous 
Old Testament Scripture was inspired and penned — 
Script of measureless moment, gravity, pathos, and ap- 
peal, of far vision and arresting vigor and beauty holding 
all readers as it did the African to whom Philip the 
evangelist was imperatively sent — that other is un- 
known; if any other has known the full burden, sorrow, 
chastisement, bruise, and pouring out of affluent life 
unto death, so wonderfully pre-visioned and boldly out- 
lined in the prophecy, the record of that other has es- 
caped all chroniclers. Jesus did pass through the aw- 
ful valley of these vast shadows, these marvels of testing 
experiences; he, only, suffered in completeness the mis- 



THK ATONEMENT 25 

apprehension, indifference, coldness, antagonism, ig- 
nominy, and the fearful bitterness of malignity and hate. 
Pharisee, priest, scribe, cl< kr. not only failed i<> discern 
in him tlu-ir long-desired, long-expected Messiah, they 
deemed him an enemy, a malefactoi . though the common 
people heard him gladly .1- one who went aboul doing 
good, .1 healei of the sick, .1 sharer of common burdens, 
who spake .1- never man spake, carrying also the g 
and sorrows of humanity. A day came when even the in- 
difference of all was manifesl and Jesus was alone mid 
hovering shadows and the dark. 

Ih had. withal, clarity and force for discerning and 
appreciating the breadth and depth of the great prophe- 
cies. He discerned the values of the mystic sentences 
the prophets musl have penned with dimness of \i-i<>n: 
he knew increasingly the profound of pain and sorrow, 
the vast burden of temptation and sin humanitj was 
bearing, felt in himself the heartbreak of these crushed 
by tyranny, the miseries imposed by wild ambition, and 
utter disregard of the widow and orphan, the lament of 
the crazed and broken, the despair of the many sin- 
bruised having no conciousness ol any one able to save 
and give resl and peace, able to deliver from the clutch 
and down pull of sin; he, <>nly, passed to fullness ol per- 
sonal experience of being wounded for man's nan . 
dons, of being bruised for human iniquities, of chastise- 
ment for man's relief and the reception <>i stripes for 
healing the hurl of sin. The depth of the vallej of pain 
and death through which ii pleased Jehovah i<> -end him 
and t<> be bruised therein, aye, to < 1 i« for all therein, none 
but Jen - has l.nou 11. or can know . 

Psalm XXII has perhaps a more striking outline of 
the tragic experiences ol trie Chrisl at the culmination 
of his life of compassion and service ol man. < >n the 
the « in. I ni' ' kings, biting corn, which the psalm- 
ist in hi> measure received and endured, ol which he had 



26 THE ATONEMENT 

bitter memories as his pen moved, Jesus bore in fullness 
as throngs shouted abuse and deriding priests voiced 
taunts and exhibited shameless disregard of pain and 
anguish as they stood within the shadow of the tree 
to which he had been lifted by their envy and hate. The 
priests and their sympathetic following used the very 
words of their own Scriptures apparently with uncon- 
sciousness of reaction upon themselves, phrasings from 
this prophetic psalm, their own treasured Messianic as- 
surance. Alas, iniquity and sin have evil fruitage, stu- 
pidity, blindness, hardness of heart, and wild perversion 
of words most reverent, true, and precious. Strangely 
enough even the Roman soldiers serving and attending 
this wickedness of purpose and deed helped to fill out 
the historic accomplishment of events long pre-visioned 
and committed to record: "They parted my garments 
among them and upon my vesture did they cast lots!" 
Ah, that seamless robe! 

Yet more noteworthy, out of the far-spreading, mid- 
day darkness came the anguished voice of the Crucified 
in solemn, aye, awful resonance, repeating the opening 
words of this twenty-second Psalm: 

"My God! My God! why hast thou forsaken me?" 
With both these great Messianic portions of Holy 
Writ, Jesus doubtless was very familiar by frequent 
reading and sober meditation over their gravity, sol- 
emnity of phrasing, and wondrous freight of thought. 
Their unsounded depths challenged and impelled study, 
just as they still do. It is every way probable that he had 
a more accurate and worthy estimate of their teaching 
than had any of the house of Israel, than any of the lead- 
ers of the people, and yet in Gethsemane and at Calvary 
he, mayhap, discerned with pain and grief an unfathomed 
and rayless deep as it pleased his Father to bruise him, 
let him down to chastisement, stripes, and augmented 
acquaintance with sorrow, as more than the hiding of 
human faces brought severe testing. 



Till. ATONEMENT 27 

The loss of the Father must have been a wry brief 
matter. That is indicated also* by the last, low whisper: 
"Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit!" 

ver profound the mystery of that veiling of the 
trying hour at Calvary, it may 
not be allowed \<< had away from the central, the ever- 
lasting truth that the Christ was accomplishing the 
eternal purpose of God, the atonemenl for sin. the re- 
demption of mankind. God was immediately involved 
in all the tragic events and movements finding theii 
climactic at the cross, peradventure in the mortal pain 
of the human. Man was made in tin- image and likeness 
of hi- Maker. God cannot fail the knowing and sharing, 
the affliction and distress, <>f the human, for the capacity 
for suffering i- hi- endowment. God gives of hi- own 
plentitude of qualities. Nothing can push man far from 
the observation ami knowing ol the omnipresent, all- 
knowing, ' >ne. Nothing can push man SO far a- to make 
love divine powerless; tin- moral chasm sin opened and 
ever open-, i- bridge is it i-. by love proffering 

a remedy for sin. 

Readers >>\ the New Testament an- familiar with the 
thought "f a lonely Savior, the Man of the olive trees 
and the cross. Indeed, Jesus k n u whal ii is to be alone. 
I ' ving .tn n'd the shadows oi trees and night, his friends 
deeping nearby, he was alone. Hanging on tin- dreadful 
tree, hi- Father's face averted, he was alone! Rut who 
know - aughi of the loneliness of the Father as he ^ ithdrew 
hi- presence lor a little from hi- obedient . faithful, loving 
Son/ "It pleased Jehovah to bruise him." saith the 
august prophecy. Mid tlu- Father escape all bruising? 
The f.n!:. nd women know p.tin and sorrow 

I , • 1 1 . lament for Absalom, Binning Absalom, 
witness. All paternity i- ol God, from him all human 
fatherhood dei I lament and pain oi the human 

man furnish no measure tor the divine Buffering, the 



28 THE ATONEMENT 

anguish of the Father as the Son was left alone in the 
climactic hour of making atonement for sin. Father 
and Son were at one in the mighty work of redemption. 
Here are filial words that carry far: "The Father loveth 
the Son!" "I and my Father are one!" "I am in the 
Father and the Father in me!" 

Another phase of this great movement in the interest 
of humanity merits brief attention. All are accustomed 
to think of the Christ as a sufferer. It has been said that 
an artist exhibited a painting of Jesus as Victor, in ac- 
cord with certain concepts of the New Testament. The 
painting utterly failed to please the people of the city 
where it was exhibited. Many looked without indica- 
tion of interest and many openly proffered criticism. 
Pondering, the artist withdrew the picture, resumed work 
upon it. Having changed certain lines of the face so 
that grief and pain were apparent and accented he ex- 
posed it afresh to the public. Direct approval was mani- 
fest, for all saw the face as that of the Man of Sorrows. 

Yet Scriptures having other content have value. 
The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews urges looking 
unto Jesus who for the joy set before him endured the 
cross despising the shame, and hath sat down at the right 
handyof the throne of God. Thus the author, captain, 
and perfecter of faith is declared a victor receiving vast 
reward. Saint Peter recognizes this joyousness as in- 
separably joined with the pain and grief, and bids his 
readers rejoice inasmuch as they are sharers in the 
sufferings of Christ that, in turn, they may have exulta- 
tion at the revelation of his glory. Recognition of this 
paradox as a part of the life of Jesus opens a way for 
the idea that the advent of the Messiah was for him a 
welcome and delightsome adventure. His affluent en- 
thusiasm may have helped greatly to bear obloquy and 
shame, antagonism and indifference; in all he was 
pleasing his Father and lifting the burden of the world; 



Till. ATONKMKN I 29 

both mu>t have ministered delight. This idea illumines 
the Beatitude: "Blessed arc- you when men shall hate 
you and exclude you from their soceity and insult you 
and spurn your very names as evil things for the Son 
o! Man's sake. Be glad at such a time and dance for 
joy for your reward is great in heaven; for that is just 
the- way their forefathers behaved to the prophets!" 

n let it be said, at the very hearl of the great re- 
demptive movement < .<>d may be found. The prop! i 
ol a Redeemer, predictions concerning a Messiah, have 
this divine majesty; God is in them, impels writing, 
voicing. The New Testament record of fulfillment, of 
accomplishment, has like supremacy; God ; - ever pres- 
ent. The Bible is a very human I k; yel it is much more 

fully, intensely, a divine book. It is spiritually dynamic 
and it- dynamic quality is supplied by the Eternal ( me. 
Thus, "For never did any prophecy come by human will 
but men senl l>y God ^|><>k<■ a> they were impelled — 
driven by the Holy Spirit." At the opening of the 
fourth Gospel blazing words are freighted with reactions 
to divine influences. Not there only, but finest exhibits 
of thought and diction arc there, as these: 

"In the 1 .< : < i mi iti vi was the Word ;in<l the Word w.i- 
with God and the word v. I in- Bame was in 

the beginning with God. All things were made by him 
and without him w.i> not anything made thai was 
made. In him was Life! and the life was the lighl ol 
men! And the light Bhineth in the darkness and the 
darkness overcame it not! . . . And the Word was 
made flesh and dwell among us (and we beheld his glory, 
glory .i- one ol the onl) begotten ol the Father) full ol 
grai •• and truth I" 

The \'.u Testament magnifies the incarnation, ad- 
vent, ministry, and passion oi Jesus the Christ, magni- 
fies his vicarious, Bacrificial suffering and death. While 
prominent e is thus given that phase there is in the words 



30 THE ATONEMENT 

of Jesus, in his teaching, in multiplied allusions to his 
intimate relations, indeed, his unity, with the Father, 
the constant affirmation of the love of God as the source 
and impulse of all the majestic movement for reconcilia- 
tion. Love in the Everlasting Father dowered humanity 
with a Redeemer, even Jesus the Christ. 

Again, at the heart of reconciliation, of atonement, 
and in the development and exhibit of its plentitude and 
efficiency, God ever is! Adequate apprehension of the 
immensity of love divine for all mankind, the rich and 
poor, the bond and free, black, white, brown, yellow, 
whatever coloring and shading, with all the grades 
mental and moral, may be esteemed a superhuman task. 
Well may all sing with the saintly Faber: 

"It is God: His love looks might, 
But is mightier than it seems! 



For the love of God is broader 
Than the -measure's of man's mind; 
And the heart of the Eternal 
Is most wonderfully kind." 

Out of the majesty and mightiness of love in God, out 
of its everlasting glory, streams manwaid a measureless 
tide. The swelling tide is affluent, dynamic! Thereby 
are fashioned faithful, competent, shepherds. Shep- 
herds like to one mirrored in the teaching of Jesus, a 
shepherd who left the ninety and nine in safe folding to 
seek one wandering lost sheep, seeking despite severe, 
cumulative perils until the lost was found, and brought 
back with tender ministry and rejoicings. What an ad- 
umbration of the one Good Shepherd who laid down his 
life for all mankind however gone astray and imperiled! 

Theologies sometimes, too often indeed, have pro- 
moted the dark rather than the splendor of the light 
that shines for aye in the face of the Christ. Not inten- 



THE ATONEMENT 31 

tionally t.y any means. In the interest of systematic 
raents of Biblical truths, logical processes have 
carried discussions to uncertain affirmations, t<> undue 
magnifying of severities— the supposed severities of 
divine justice while also failing to magnify in tluir 
writings the eternal compassion of the All-Father. A 
fruitage of such theological thought and accordant teach- 
ing is apparent in the prayer of a Scotch grandmother 

iven by George Macdonald in his "Roberl Falconer" 

— a midnight outpour of trouble ;m<l heartache, of 

anguish ami tender pleading, a passion-tide <>l' mother- 

:ikI intercession f<>r a sinning, wandering son whose 

»he had not seen in main- wearying years. The broad 
is far from being a blemish. Her grand- 
son innocently became a listener after the beginning <>l 
the outpour and the following portion burned itself a 
lodgement in Robert's very being: 

ii- ' I've a aair, -air hert, I've a >iir hert i' my 
t, O Lord! thou knowest. M> ain Andrew! To think 
o' my bairnie that I carriet, an' leuch i' mj face -to think 
being' a reprobate! «» Lord! cudna he l><- elekit yet? 
I- there nae turnin 1 <>' thy decrees? \a, na; that wadna <1<> 
.a a'. But while tner's life ther's houp. But wha 
whether he 1" alive or no? Naebody can tell. < iladly wad 1 
luik upon '- deid face k'i" I cud believe that his bow! wasna 
amans thi eh! The torments <>' that place! 

ami th>- reek tint gangs up forevei and ever, Bmotherin' 
tin Btars! And mj Andrew doon i' the Inn • >' 't cryin'l 
An' me no able to win tell him! OLord! 1 canna saj tin- 
will l><- «lu in-. Hut 1 1 in n. i lay't t<> my chairge; for gin ye was 
• wadna pit me tin re. < I Lord I'm \< rra 
ill-fashioned. I \><k yer | >. 1 1 < I< >n . I'm near "c.t o' my mind. 
I .hardly ken what I'm ea\ in', I le 
my ain I'.il. Andrew, an 1 ye gar him to me 

I'. An' iic. irn t<» pint at ; an 

itrv ami iliirna romr 

within sicht o' 't for them 'at won!. I tak' the law o"im. An' 

'rink drink an' ill COmpayl He wad liar dune w < . I 
; id lat<n 'im In-. What lor maun nun I .• 

in' at somethin' or it In r! / nevei want it. 



32 THE ATONEMENT 

Eh! gin I war young as when he was born, I wad be up 
an' awa' this verra nicht to luik for 'im. But it's nae use me 
trin' it. O God! ance mair I pray thee to turn 'im frae 
the error o' 's ways afore he gaes hence an' isna mair! 
An' oh! dinna lat Robert gang efter 'm as he's like eneuch 
to do. Gie me grace to haud 'm tight, that he may be to 
the praise o' thy glory forever and ever. Amen. 

The audacities of petition that so frightened the aged, 
burdened Scotch mother as she opened the deeps of her 
being unto him who made her a mother were impelled 
by a love that spurned boundaries, a love stronger 
than death. Reminding the All-Father that gave her a 
son, the son who had strayed afar and that if he were a 
mother himself he would not put a son, a tempted, 
wandering, broken son in the pit whose "reek gangs up 
forever smothering the stars" was indeed an audacity. 
Yet something normal was in the audacious suggestion 
with which the Great Maker of mothers must have been 
in sympathy, for the capacity for material suffering is 
his gift. He knoweth the frame maternal and the pos- 
sible intensity for prayer over a wayward son. In the 
story, filial love, warmed by sacred fires persists, and 
ultimately Robert takes to his grandmother her "ain 
Andrew" clothed in his right mind. 

Evidence that atonement is of God is cumulative in 
the Bible. Early and late it is shown that God is will- 
ing in himself to forgive sin. A great message of Je- 
hovah was given to Moses his servant. That weighty 
message has value at this point. The extremely sinful 
conduct of the people during an absence of their leader 
in the awe-inspiring mount puts the deliverance of a 
great message of divine compassion in a splendor of 
light. 

"And Jehovah descended in the cloud and stood with him 
(Moses) there and proclaimed the name of Jehovah (the 
marginal reading merits recognition; and he stood with him 
there and called upon the Name of Jehovah) . And Jehovah 



THK ATONEMENT 33 

passed by before him and proclaimed; Jehovah, Jehovah, 
I merciful and gracious, slow I I abundant 

in loving kindness and truth; keeping loving kindni 

thousands, forgiving iniquity and n and mii; 

and that will by no means clear the guilty — visiting the 
iniquity of the fathers upon the children and upon the 
children's children Upon the third and upon the fourth 

generation." 

rding to the august deliverance forgive! 
mii is normal action with God. Here is indication that 
the love of the Father enspheres all other excellences, 
attributes, powers of personality. The immense Nai- 
rn- of atonement are more ancienl than the New Testa- 
ment. The latei Scripture sets forth Jesus the Christ 
as the Lamb of God that beareth the hu of the world, 
the lamb who has been offered in sacrifice ever since 
the creation of tin- world! 

Jehovah gave Mom-, gave Israel, gave mankind the 
i rning the forgn eness of sin oul of 
tin- plentitude of hi- justice, out of hi- beneficent fullness 
of Fatherhood, out of tin- tidal flow of hi- mighty love. 
The message above openly recognizes essential condi- 
tions! Pardon waits upon penitence. 

That the penalizing extends to the children of sin- 
ning father even unto tin- far-removed fourth generation 
isan intensity thai may not be overlooked. Sin poisons, 
mar-, introduces disintegrating font- insuring <\i-- 
ration ami. when the drift i- completed, death 
closes the scene. The fourth generation does not appear 
in everj evil case! These penal sequences are nol ar- 
bitrarily imposed; thej are simply the normal fruit 
sin ! 

The early proclamation of forgiveness for -in was 
firmly based; the Proclaimer voiced hi- own unpur- 
chased m< ! "\\ movement of . ; 
and abundance ol lovingkindness and truth. Here i- an 
adumbrative manifestation ol the glory ol the Eternal 



34 THE ATONEMENT 

Father. The proclamation glows with its majestic 
burden and with Him who voiced it! In the making 
of the Bible the majestic chant gathers sacred fire and 
this is written of the voicing of multitudes: Trust ye in 
Jehovah forever; for in Jehovah is the Rock of Ages! 

Reflecting, it is not too much to aver that Jehovah re- 
ceived in himself the primal thrust of sin and then out 
of his fatherliness, his abounding lovingkindness and 
truth, gave the troubled sinners of the beginning the 
early promise with such pertinency of phrasing as 
proffered sympathy to the woman who first yielded to 
the tempter, pertinency also to the far-off climactic by 
which Satan would be bruised and cast out. If that 
primal impact of sin bruised the Divine Nature has there 
not been a continuous bruising of that Nature by the sin 
of mankind in the ages? If that be admitted is it not in- 
evitable to think, to believe, the Father suffered as 
really as his well-beloved Son when that Son was in 
agony in the Garden and when bruised by scourging 
and crucifixion? 

Other queries rise. Does not disregard of the rule 
trouble the Giver of it? Does not fratricidal strife 
grieve, hurt the Father of all? Do not the eager, brutal 
contests in the mart, the industrial centers, trouble 
him? When each seeks his own, ruthlessly and refuses 
consideration of others, fails of brotherliness, and ven- 
tures advance of personal interest by warlike acts with 
guns, stones, brickbats, clubs, is he not wounded who 
loves all the children of men? Is it any less distressing 
with Jehovah now for the selfish trafficker in strong 
drink, in toxic poisons, wholesale manufacturers and 
dealers, bootleggers, tempters with home-brewed liquors, 
to urge temptations on the weak, on those whose thirst 
is morbid and abnormal, than when Habakkuk was im- 
pelled to voice a woe to him that putteth a bottle to 
his neighbor's lips and maketh him drunken also? 



THE ATONEMENT 35 

Nay, it is forever true that God will by no means clear 
the guilty; he will hold nun responsible for their doings 
in accordance with the light given, and will compel ac- 
countability. 

The main thought i< reaffirmed: God is ever at the 
very center <>t" all atoning purpose and effort. All ex- 
hibits of such purpose and movemenl by ancient prom- 
ise and prophecy, ceremonials, offerings, types, and 
adumbrations, the tragedy at Calvary itself, win- ante- 
dated in the thought of God. Yel did his Son rightfully 
have the preeminence the New Testament de< 
but always in unity with hi> Father and directly doing the 
will of the Father. Jesus openly said, "1 do always the 
things that please my Father!" Jesus is presented in 
the prologue of the fourth Gospel as the only begotten 
Son win. is in the bosom of his Father. In the pa— ion 
prayer Jesus said, "For thou lovedst me before the foun- 
dation of the world." Thus he shared from the be- 
ginning the majestic task of human redemption, .1 con- 
tinuous work, as continuous as the probationary life 
of man. He hath an unchangeable priesthood. His 
intercessions cease not. His ministry of reconciliation 
• r active and efficient; he welc es saved men and 

women to that wonderful ministry and hide- it- M« ssed- 

nd power in their being. 
Some pregnant passages of the New Testamenl con- 
cerning atonement for sin have been cited and more await 
nition. In Romans, the following arrests the 
reader: 

the ground <>i obedience n> law n an living 

will be declared righteous before him God). La« limply 
brings 1 Bure knowledge <>t sin." 

"But now .1 righteousness coming from God has been 
brought i" light apart from law, both l.iu and prop 

to it a righteousness coming from < k>d, 



36 THE ATONEMENT 

which depends on faith in Jesus Christ and extends to 
all who believe. No distinction is made; for all alike have 
sinned, and all consciously come short of the Glory of 
God. gaining acquittal from guilt by his free, unpur- 
chased grace through the deliverance which is found in 
Christ Jesus. He it is whom God put forward as a 
mercy seat, rendered efficacious through faith in his 
blood, in order to demonstrate his righteousness — because 
of the passing over, in God's forbearance, of the sins pre- 
viously committed, — with a view to demonstrating, at 
the present time, his righteousness, that he may be 
shown to be righteous himself, and the Giver of right- 
eousness to those who believe in Jesus." 

The Scripture recognizes the All-Father as providing 
by salvation, through faith in the Son, a way of right- 
eousness, a new and living way. In preparing that way 
God spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us 
all. High, yes, highest place was given that Delivered 
One in the imperishable record yet he is ever the "Sent 
of God" and in all things he did that which advanced the 
purpose and work of redemption, ever manifesting the 
Father, and with full obedience. Wherefore it was writ- 
ten that God had highly exalted him and given him a 
name, the name above all other names! This passage 
is in beautiful harmony with the Jehovistic word to 
Moses. Both exhibit the mercy and grace of God and 
both gave the luminous declaration of divine love and 
kindness, of their bountifulness as manifesting the 
riches of the Infinite One. At the same time the apos- 
tolic solicitude for the righteousness of God has ever 
led the thoughtful to declare special interest in the prob- 
lem of moral government as surely involved in redemp- 
tive purpose and activity. Surely, the importance of 
moral rule is immense. Right and justice are imperatives 
in all governments. It is unthinkable that the Most 
High is ever disrespectful of these imperatives. They are 



THE ATONEMENT 37 

abiding pillars of hi- throne. They are of his very being, 
hi> personality. In the majesty they assure he appeared 
to Moses for the giving "I" the law, also for the more in- 
timate affirmation of hi> readiness t<> forgive sin. God 
i- without variation, <<r shadow of turning, the same 
yesterday, to-day, and forever! A psalm affirms: "Thy 
righteousness i- an everlasting righteousness and tin- 
law is the truth." 

Something should be said of propitiation. The term 
its only three times in the New Testament— once in 
Roni. in- and twice in |<.hn I. The Greek in Romans i> 
kilastarion. The same Greek word is used by the writer 
ol th«- Epistle to the Hebrews in naming the appointments 
for the tempi.- services and the A. V. and R. V. both 
have the mercy seal as the English equivalent. Saint 
John uses a kindred word, the noun hilasmosi the English 
ions have propitiation -Weymouth, however, giv- 
ing the variant atoning sacrifice. Bu1 really, propitia- 
tion is more .1 pagan than a Christian term and thought. 
It is suggestive of pagan usages and ideas; their 

■ned wrathful, and propitiatory offerings 
and sacrifices wen- made as efforts for appeasing the 
I'he Father of our Lord and Master, the 
I er of all men, is nol appeased by propitiatory of- 
ferings, neither have hi> children occasion to fear his 
as they refuse his proffers of grace and persist 
in wrongdoing and sin. The Penitential Psalm chants 
most truthfully: 

:l, open Thou my lips and my mouth shall B&itm 
fortli Thj praise. I "i Thou desireth nol sacrifice; 
toould I rive ii : Thou delightesl m>i in burnl offering. 
I God area hroken spirit; a broken and con- 

trite ; . I hou wilt nol di 

Thai -weei sin of 1 rael knew the Tabernacle 
cult, the priests, the sacrificial offerings and sobering 
cert monials, including the great I >.i\ oi Atonement with 



38 THE ATONEMENT 

its solemnities. Yet in his heartbreak for his sin and 
painful brooding over the pungent reproof of Nathan the 
prophet and the deeper probing of the Holy Spirit, 
David found himself face to face with his Maker, the 
Holy One of Israel, and with confession of guilt and sin 
sought forgiveness directly, apparently without thought* 
of priests and sacrifices until pardon and inner cleansing 
made him a new man. Penitence, turning from sin, hu- 
mility, contrition, pleading, a volcanic outpour of prayer 
to God, was sufficient. Then the king was eager to 
speak of even whole burnt offerings. They evinced 
adoration and praise rather than propitiatory values. 

Redemption is a term of large import and interest. 
Its kinsmen, redeem, Redeemer, are of like honor and 
worth. The three have luminous values in the Sacred 
writing. Blood by symbolic use is of like rank. These 
make holy resonance in the Bible. In Apocalyptic vision 
glorious Saint John heard the celestial company singing 
a new song: 

"Thou art worthy to take the book and to open the 
seals thereof: For Thou wast slain and hast redeemed us to 
God by Thy blood out of every kindred and tongue and 
people and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings 
and priests!" 

Clarified vision of the teaching of Jesus concerning 
this sacred matter of redemption may be advanced by 
thoughtful study of his peerless story of the Prodigal 
Son. Wondrously it exhibits the Father's love for man 
by setting forth luminously the character and behavior 
under severe testing of one of the fathers of men — a father 
whose son went astray. The youth left home as the urge 
for self-direction pressed, left the inestimable benefits 
of kinship and home interest, left all with eagerness, with 
slight regard for wise conduct of life, and without the 
personal balance needful; minus, indeed, the vantage 
experience alone can assure. Sane thinking is a fruitage 



THK ATONEMEN 1 39 

of more years and larger contact with affairs and people; 
sobering often comes by testing, failures, losses. 

In the far country- — a region where God is not, or 
where n< >ne reo tgnize him or his governance) a region often 
Bhadowed by want and despair -there came a day when 
the Prodigal, having wasted hi- patrimony, was in the 
stress nt' want, was Famishing, was homesick and nigh 

-pair: then he recalled his father's house and its 
plentiful supplies and desire stirred within, fruiting 
presently in determination of immediate return with 
open confession and penitent outcry, "Father, I have 
ainned !" Thus he left the far country, hi- confession and 
accordant plea burning heart and lips. Bui while he was 
:.tr <>fi his lather saw him and was moved with com- 

n and ran and fell upon his neck and kissed him! 

I him with tenderness! Nevertheless, the heavy- 
laden son began voicing his penitential grief, his humble 
pleading: "Father, I have sinned against heaven and 
in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy 
son." The father, all aglow with love and joy, permitted 
no more humiliation, abasement, and prayer, bul hold- 
ing his -<>n in loving embrace bade the servants bring 
the best raiment and adornmenl <>i the home and put 
tlie In hi -i- in array for jubilance and banqueting. 

Apparently the lather was untroubled l>y thoughts ol 
the moral government of hi- home. Nothing is in the 

1 i.i penal sequences save those the Prodigal knew 
in bitterness afar from the light and beneficence "i home. 
The elder son alone suggested aught of such matters. He, 
with haughtiness and severity, reproved hi- father foi 
hastily and with lavish display welcoming a -mi ol the 
home who had dishonored it. and had beggared and dis- 

I himsell by living riotously with bad people in a 
l»a«l land. That jealous, angered son i-, in the story, 
l<ii to hi- self-righteousness in maleficent Bhadow a- he 
refused the urgent plea <■! fatherhood: "It was meet t" 



40 THE ATONEMENT 

make merry and be glad; for this thy brother was dead, 
and is alive again! was lost, and is found!" 

The story has nothing of comment by the Teller in- 
dicative of the need for naming supports for moral gov- 
ernment or of other penalties for wrongdoing and sin 
than those painfully, pungently experienced by the 
Prodigal as the fruit of his own doings. Retribution 
appeared swiftly; every day brings judgment, doom, 
penalty. There is direct accent on repentance, on for- 
saking vice and sin, on penitent confession and humble 
prayer for pardon and renewal. Full accent also on the 
unfailing compassion and love of the divine fatherhood. 
The story has immortality. 

In another brief story Jesus magnified repentance and 
its sure acceptance on high. The joy of the shepherd 
who sought a wandering sheep, lost in the dark of the 
mountains, until he found it, and bearing it gently, 
returned to ask friend and neighbor to rejoice with him 
is uplifted mightily by a most memorable affirmation. 

These things are in harmony with the earlier reveal- 
ings and are assurances of the eternal purpose and work 
of human rescue from sin and its hurt; in full harmony 
with the great deliverance of the Christ to Nicodemus: 

"God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten 
Son that Whosoever believeth in him should not perish 
but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son to 
condemn the world, but that the world through him might 
be saved!" 

In sum, the eternal purpose and work of God, in- 
dicated in early promise and latter prophecy, adumbrated 
by typical sacrifices, offerings, and ceremonials, and 
imperfectly set forth in history and literature of the 
chosen people, attained their supreme climactic in the 
life, passion, and death of Jesus the Christ. However 
christocentric the New Testament Scriptures may be 
they also declare the majestic mysticism that God was 



THE ATONEMEN I" 41 

in Christ Jesus working out and accomplishing his ever- 
g purpose, the redemption of man! The- full cli- 
mactic includes the Garden stress of sorrow of agonized 
prayer, the betrayal, the mockery of trial, the submis- 
sion of his face, face more marred than any of tin- sons 
of men, that bruised face to shame and spitting, the 
cheek- to those plucking off the hair, his hack to the 
Bmiters, the flagellum, the cross, the laying down of his 
life, the appealing cry to his Father, whose face was then 
unseen, the glorious return from the rock-hewn tomb, 
the ascension, the resumption of his heavenly seat.the 
sending of the promise of the Father for empowerment 
of his disciples making them dynamic for the high minis- 
try of reconciliation. 

In .,11 the love of God was manifested, the mighty 
venture of love and faith tor man, m patient, continued 
effort to seek and save the lost, the sinning. 

Sublimity is ever present in this divine work of re- 
demption. Atonement, reconciliation, i> a sublimity! 
The mystic unity of Father ami Son dominate-- tin- work. 
The Holy Spirit hovers over ii and assumes the burden 
of making all ministers of the reconciliation dynamic. 
I entire movemenl is mystic, glorious, magnificent! 



to the Father, and to the San, and to 
the Holy Ghostl As it was in the beginning, is 

>id ever shall be, world without end! A nun' 



II. 

This brief study of Atonement has been advanced 
with such clarity and adequacy as was at command. In- 
adequacy and lack of clearness and vigor is lamented. 
The greatness of the divine movement for the rescue of 
humanity from the hurt of sin, from sin itself, the mysti- 
cisms involved in promise, prophecy, and the life and 
service of Jesus the Christ, his revealing of God as the All- 
Father and as manifest in his Son, in the transfer of a 
divine purity and vigor of life to men and women on the 
basis of repentance and faith so making saints of sinners, 
made more, much more, demand than could be met. 
The only recourse is to leave what has been typed as an 
humble effort with thankfulness for all stimuli received 
for the venture. 

The task of a fair exhibit of the obligation imposed 
on all human life by the divine proffer of salvation from 
sin through penitence and faith in Jesus Christ, the Son 
of God, remains. The obligation is actual, inescapable. 
The task now assayed may not be overlooked or wholly 
left to others. None may lessen the obligation indicated. 
It abides for all mankind, for all time. The following 
musical lines by Richard Chevenix Tranch are pertinent 
and pungent: 

I say to thee, do thou repeat, 
To the first man thou mayest meet 
In lane, highway, or open street — 

That he and we and all men move 

Under a canopy of love, 

As broad as the blue sky above; 

That doubt and trouble, fear and pain 
And anguish, all are shadows vain, 
That death itself shall not remain; 
42 



THE ATONEMENT 

That weary deserts we may tread, 
A dreary Labyrinth may thread, 
Through dark ways underground be led; 

Yet, it we will one ( vuide 

The dreariest path, the darkesl way 

Shall issue out in heavenly day; 

And we, "ii divers Bhores now 
Shall meet, <>ur perilous voyage !>a>t 
All in our Father's house at last. 

And ere thou leave him, say thou this, 

:.<• word more: they only miss 
Tin- winning of that fatal bli>s 

Who will not count it true, that ! 
ssing, ii"t cursing, rul< s a! 

And that in it we live and n 

Atnl one thing further make him know, 
That to believe these things 

This firm faith never to : 

te of .dl which Beems at strife 
With blessing, all with 
That tlii— i> blessing, llii- i> life. 

Tin- thoughl of an unlimited atonemenl exhibits the 
inclusiveness of tin- divine ideal. Few thinkers, ii any, 
will now give place t<> .1 less inclusive Bcheme of re- 
demption. "Whosoever will." i-- the attractive call ; ii 
alone has winning charm. It redeeming love has such 
ness, such wideness <>i truth and appeal, then all 
mankind have burden .1- tin- measure <>i knowledge. 

Jesus has been drawing all mankind, .ill human 
into the circle of In- dominant 1 H< cen- 
tral in the thoughts "i many. The circle "i bi- attrac- 
tion is constantlj being enlarged. Thinkers everywhere 
find it 1 Miiti.il to recognize him, his teachings; they 
may wish t" pin him a-i<l<-, bul find it impossible. 
They may remain skeptical concerning his right t<> 



44 THE ATONEMENT 

rule, but cannot escape him or his words. As he said, 
his words are spirit, are life. The world and its peoples 
he bought with a price and none can bar him out of 
his rightful heritage. Industry, business, trade and 
commerce, world-wide enterprise feel his presence, admit 
his high pressures. Christian ideas and ideals are recog- 
nized in the mart, in the industrial centers. Men may 
be timid over ventures to embody his thoughts in actual 
affairs; bolder advocates do appear. Timidity in this 
matter is not unduly strange. Self-interest has long 
been the dominant thing in world affairs, in business, 
in statecraft; it has been such a mighty compelling force 
that direct abandonment thereof is far from being a 
facile matter. Railways across continents, linking cities, 
girding broad prairies, joining valleys and plains, com- 
munities, states; steamships of colossal size and capacity 
serving humanity on lakes, rivers, and oceans; vast 
movements in promotion by agriculture and manufac- 
ture, also in distribution of products as imposing; these 
and more have been built up and augmented in the cen- 
turies by the strong and have been based in self-interest. 
Society has had scant room for Jesus and his ideals. 
Informally, if not more directly and positively, society 
has banned his words and refused him courtesy. Not- 
withstanding, his radical, revolutionary teachings, his 
actual though unseen presence and spiritual impact have 
been, and are impelling, finer usages and are exalting 
truth, honor, purity. Social forms, characteristic, 
improve with the advancing generations; Christian ideals 
are increasingly permeative in the circles of modern life. 
In the prefatoiy work of Mrs Harriet Beecher Stowe's 
memorable indictment of American Slavery the following 
bit of optimism appears: 

Another and better day is dawning; every influence 
of literature, of poetry, and art, is becoming more and more 
in unison with the great master chord of Christianity, good- 
will to men.' 



THE ATONEMENT 45 

The poet, the painter, and the artist now seek out and 

embellish the common and gentler humanities of lite, and, 

under the allurements of fiction, breathe a humanizing and 

subduing influence, favorable to the development of the 

principles of Christian brotherhood. 

Much advance has been assured since the reading of 
"Uncle Tom's< abin" so mightily stirred millions of people. 
Meantime war has repeatedly imposed its awfulness on 
many, on fighting folk with ami without personal enmity, 
on the nations, on everybody. The- more recent, more 
terrible war-storm was -<■ widely inclusive in it> pro- 
tracted and destructive inflictions a- bo make it- record 
a ..(!• tie in the annals of war. Recklessly, 

blatantly, it- imperial instigators sought i<> make sure 
for indefinite time that might is right, that Christian 
idealism is inimical t<> the state, whatever may be its 
values witli neighborly groups of people. The objective 
thus madly, wickedly sought l>y imperialists, sought with 
outrageous disregard and defiance <>i Christian ideas, 
nol attained: The Christ, the Great White Com- 
panion of men, barred the way! Inestimable injury was 
inflicted, the social, industrial, and economic values "i 
all Europe, and beyond it- geographic limit-, cannot 

er from the biuising and wreckage for many, main- 
All this severity >>\ wrongdoing, this \.i-t wreckage 
ol treasured values, this fury of antagonism t<> the teach- 

ind standards of the Gospel, this wanton display 
of imperial greed and madness, has not driven the 

from tin- open field <>f it- struggle ami partial tri- 
umph, has nol stayed the forward venture of those bear- 
ing alofl it- white banner; it- "far-beaming blaze "i 
radiant ■■- in the time- of peace. Rather 
it. intensity of light has been enhanced. Accordingly, in 
tl, ( - stres "i battle, amid tin- hmt- and injuries of war, 
Ivan* ins from homes \\ here the ( In ist 
had love an<l worship, from communities made thought- 



46 THE ATONEMENT 

ful, noble, by service in Jesus's name, carried ameliora- 
tion, impelled army uplift and high morale, assured 
manifold comfort to the maimed and mangled, the dying. 
A new, untiring energy of hallowing ministries appeared; 
soldiers in muddy trenches, in "No man's land," in all 
the rude, harsh involvings of the long, dreary, death- 
dealing conflict, were aided and comforted. As if meet- 
ing the bold challenge given wildly that Christianity 
by its failue had precipitated the war upon a peaceful 
world its adherents, men and women, made worthy 
exhibit of service more impressive, more potent than all 
the massive output of materialistic and imperial power. 
Nations have gained clarity of vision and a larger dread 
of the rude clash of arms as a means of adjusting dif- 
ferences; vision also of a better world, one unvexed by 
war. 

None may overlook the truth that all reforms of real 
worth and promise are but wholesome reactions of per- 
sons, communities, nations, to the pressures the work of 
redemption constantly applies. Redemption is a vital, 
impelling force, ceaseless, cumulative. It is of God, and 
puissant. Its dynamic He supplies, and it is limited 
alone by human indifference and willfulness. The sin of 
man thus manifests its virus and hinders the work 
of God. 

If human nature had had no impairment in the ages, 
if no handicap now existed, the situation would be less 
grave. Existing tendencies to lawless conduct, to vice 
and crime enlarge common perils. Sinfulness is present. 
But, redemption is correlated with sin. The Bible is 
an open book as this truth is recognized. Atonement 
has significance for sinners; it was provided for sinners; 
it has potency for sinners. Sinful folk have better mo- 
ments when desire for freedom from the bondage of sin 
is present. Redemption proffers gracious liberty. The 
self-will of many hinders their advance. Self-will is a 



THE ATONEMENT 47 

native endowment of real value. It may be devoted to 
misuse— -and that is sin. Selfishness is readily developed; 
and -in i- a fruit of selfishness. Continuance in sin aug- 
ment- selfishness and effectually bars the way to sub- 
mission to Him who saves from sin. 

rheessential matter abides; the atonement for sin, the 
redemption ol man by the Christ who was ever in unity 
with the Father, in the mighty task. That sacrificia] 
man imposes obligation on all mankind. Here 
i> nothing harsh or arbitrary. Love provided the 
remedy tor sin. Love is atonement. All nun ought to 
love God supremely, for God first loved man. now loves 
all mankind, with an everlasting love. This the ( lo.-pcl 
affirms. This the Spirit reveals in those who be! 



"Beloved, let us love one another: for lovt 
Cod: and every one thai loveth is bom of God, 
and knoweih Cod. 

He thai loveth not knoweth not God: for God is 

In this was manifested the love of Cod towards 

ause that God sent his only bi 

into the -world, that we might live through him. 

Herein is love, not that Wt loved Cod, hut that 
he loved us. and sent his .Son to he the J>ropitia- 
r our sins. 

Bel loved us, we ought also to 

■ another." 



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